Posted: March 8, 2012 | Tags: Sunshine Week Next week is Sunshine Week, designed to bring attention to the merits and benefits of having an open government. The main sponsors of the week are the American Society of News Editors and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. In some ways, it is bittersweet to have…
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Sunshine In Lakeland District Two substantial events took place in Tallahassee on Friday: completion of the Florida Legislature’s annual 60-day session — scheduled two months early this year to provide time for the Florida Supreme Court to rule on new voting districts drawn by the Legislature for the state House and Senate, and the U.S.…
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As Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, it is my duty to be a watchdog for how our government spends Floridians’ hard-earned tax dollars. There are few things more important than holding our government accountable. Accountability requires transparency, a principle of which Florida has consistently been on the cutting edge. With groundbreaking legislation in 1909 and again…
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By William Mattox Weather patterns in the Florida Panhandle have not changed much since last March. Nevertheless, the citizens of Jackson County have benefitted from a significant increase in “sunshine” over the last year. That’s because their local officials have made “proactive disclosure” of county government activities a higher priority. As a result, Jackson County…
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We were each astounded when our City Attorney, approached us during the course of our service as mayors of the nearby cities of Lake Helen and Sanford and advised us that the courts had ruled that, although the Sunshine Law requires that meetings be open to the public, the Law does not give the public…
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